Russia and Ukraine celebrate the 100 anniversary of the birth of the legendary Soviet intelligence officer, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov, who during the Great Patriotic War destroyed 11 generals and high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany.Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was born on July 27 of the year 1911 in the village of Zyryanka, Talitsky District, Sverdlovsk Region. Before the war, he worked as an engineer in Sverdlovsk and Moscow.
Since the beginning of the war, Kuznetsov was enrolled in the Special NKVD group. According to some reports, in the first war year, he was once thrown into the German rear with a short-term assignment, and after returning, he trained at the Krasnogorsk camp of German prisoners of war, learning the behavior and style of speech of German officers. In August, 1942, at the personal request of Nikolai Kuznetsov, was sent to the rear of the enemy in the special reconnaissance partisan detachment of the NKVD Pobediteley, which was commanded by Dmitry Medvedev, operating in Ukraine.
In the fight against the Nazi invaders, Nikolai Kuznetsov showed extraordinary courage and ingenuity. Possessing perfect German and acting in the city of Rovno in contact with the underground workers and partisans, under the guise of German Lieutenant Paul Siebert, he obtained the most valuable intelligence information. In particular, he managed to obtain information about the German V-1 and V-2 missiles, disclose the location of Hitler’s Wehrwolf stakes near Vinnitsa, warn the Soviet command about the impending attack of Hitler’s troops in the Kursk area (operation “Citadel”) and about the upcoming attempt on Heads of Government of the USSR, USA and UK in Tehran.
The most famous Nikolai Kuznetsov received as a liquidator. He personally destroyed prominent Hitlerites - the Chief Justice of Ukraine Alfred Funk, the imperial adviser to the Reich Commissariat of Ukraine Hans Gall, the Vice-Governor of Galicia Otto Bauer. At the head of a group of partisans, Kuznetsov kidnapped the commander of the punitive forces in Ukraine, General Max Ilgen.
The scout was killed in a battle 9 March 1944, near the village of Boratin (Lviv region), undermining himself and the enemies surrounding him with a grenade. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov was awarded posthumously 5 November 1944. He was buried in Lviv.
As is often the case, many “historians” appeared over time, who wished for the sake of some of their goals would mock the memory of the great intelligence officer, however, in Russia and Ukraine they remember him: monuments are established, several museums function, one of the minor planets of the Universe wears his name. Reports ITAR-TASS.
The scout himself may have foreseen doom. In one of the letters he wrote: "I love life, I am still young, but if for the Motherland, which I love as my own mother, you need to sacrifice your life, I will do it ... Let me die, but in the memory of my people patriots are immortal ! ".
By the anniversary date, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Sverdlovsk Region organized a regional journalistic competition for the best publication in print media on the topic "Nikolai Kuznetsov: a great intelligence officer, a great countryman." The winner in the nomination "Talitsa - the birthplace of the great intelligence officer" according to the unanimous opinion of the jury was the cycle of publications dedicated to N.I. 100 anniversary. Kuznetsova, published in the newspaper "Kamyshlovskie Izvestia". The author included in the cycle of articles submitted to the competition, "O brave falcon," "Drops of your hot blood" and "Madness of the brave, we sing a song!" Alina Semenova did not live to see the awards ceremony for only two days.
An international motor rally started in Yekaterinburg on July 15, the participants of which visited Kiev and Lviv. The press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that "participants in the rally along with officers of the Western operational command of the Ukrainian armed forces laid wreaths on the tomb of Nikolai Kuznetsov on the Hill of Glory in Lviv." The rally will end at the hero’s birthplace in Talitsa on his birthday - July 27.
On the eve of the memorable date in Yekaterinburg, on the square of the Russian Army at the Black Tulip memorial ceremony, the grand opening of the All-Russian School Games for military-applied and technical sports “Loyal Sons of the Fatherland” dedicated to the 100 anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Kuznetsov took place.